Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today Anchored frontman Brandan Narrell tells us about "Dirty in Texas" from their forthcoming album "Listen To This". We now turn it over to Brandan for the story:For years there was talk between myself and friends about me writing a song that could encompass the lone star state. It is a state of great pride and has an attitude of its own. Everyone knows a Texan from hello, just merely by the accent alone. The big question that I kept asking myself was "how am I gonna write a song good enough about Texas that won't get my ass kicked or be a letdown to TEXAS and TEXANS". If you've been here you know what I'm talking about. So, after a lot of late nights, bar fights, strippers, and booze I called a good friend of mine named Geoff Byrd and pitched the idea to him. We went back and forth by phone, me being in Dallas and him being in Oregon over musical ideas for the song. When it came to lyrics, I grabbed a notebook and wrote down four pages of just words that I felt describe Texas from what I've seen being in the local music scene for 12 years and just driving, walking, partying, etc. We wrote the song in 2 nights…Geoff and I couldn't believe how the words and music poured out of us so swiftly considering the task we knew it would be, but, that's Texas for ya…it gets in ya and won't spit you out until you've got your point across that it sees fit. Texas is a big state and there's always A LOT going on….you'll never get bored from border to border. Lines like 'kickin up dust" and "raising hell" is what you can expect here even on a Tuesday night or a Sunday afternoon. Friday and Saturday you better wear a helmet or be a tough son of a bitch. The other side of Texas is the best looking women around. I've seen out of towners come here, go to strip bar, and drop more cash than if they were in Vegas. So, wrapping all of that kind of stuff into a song was a challenge in making it make sense to the rest of the world. In the third verse it talks about "boy's drivin 2 tons, girls ridin shotgun". Drive down any road in Texas and you'll see for yourself…and probably want to hop in that truck. Also the "cowboys" are brought up….I wrote it as a double meaning…for one we have the best damn football team around…hence "Americas team" and two, if you disagree, the other "cowboys/rednecks" will make you understand that fact and trust me, they are tough as nails between 2am and 2pm…haha. Football is a very serious pride sport in Texas and that is why we made sure to do some scenes in the video on a football field. When you see the video just remember….that's a high school football stadium, so you can gather what colleges and the sacred "Cowboys Stadium" can hold. In my opinion, the song and video speak for themselves about Texas and I hope the world loves listening and watching. It was an honor for me…EVERYTHING IS BIGGER HERE, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!!!
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and check out the video here and then learn more about the album (which is coming later this spring), the group and grab their current tour dates with Saliva - right here!
Share this article on Twitter